This Chancy Rendezvous
by Sailor Nibaru
Summary: Valentine's Day and misunderstandings rarely ever go together, particularly when you're attached to someone as naive as Dog. One-shot. One-sided Cat/Shriek, implied Cat/Dog. Slash if you want, but doesn't need to be. FLUFF. Please read author's note inside.


**Author's Note:** Here I am, with another fic, so soon after the last one ;) but this time, it's a CatDog fic. I know, no one likes long author's notes, but I've got to explain some things about this before you go into it, so y'know, sorry ^^;.

First off, like the last fic I did, I thought this one up a while ago.. around last February, haha. Yes, I *do* realize it's nowhere near Valentine's Day right _now_, but I really, _really_ wanted to write this up.. the CatDog section is sorely lacking in fanfics D: Particularly for my favourite pairing, but hey.. that's what happens when you ship a slightly 'odd' pairing.

Now, this was in the summary, but I'll repeat myself here: this fic can be taken as Cat/Dog slash. (That was certainly my intention ^^;) However, I tried to keep it as vague as possible, so even if you don't like that pairing, I think you still might be able to enjoy this.. I tried to keep it as fluffy as possible :B (And hey, there's some one-sided Cat/Shriek, so.. ^_~ Also some implied Tallulah/Randolph, but it's so quick that I don't think that even merits a warning, haha) And y'know, I don't /care/ if **you** dislike that pairing, or the fact that I ship it (and just as a note, I personally just ship it as a cute, fluffy thing). If it bothers you, remember, there's always the back button.

One more thing; some words are written kind of.. weirdly (i.e., misspelt), because I couldn't think how else to emphasize Dog's mispronouncing words thing. So no need to point out typos, I'm aware of them ^^ (Unless there's a typo when Dog _isn't_ talking; feel free to point it out then x'D;)

Oh.. and the name of this fic (as well as the song that I used halfway through this fic) comes from the song "You Might Think" by Weezer, which I'm currently totally addicted to :3. Now, without further ado, _**enjoy!**_

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"Hey Cat? What are you writing?"

Cat glanced over his shoulder, his arm over the paper in his hands. It was just another day in Nearburg; the weather was unusually good lately, considering it was still February. It also happened to be the day before Valentine's Day; "Valentine's Day Eve", as some called it. All over town, couples were making last-minute plans for the next day, people were nervously trying to figure out how to ask out their crush.. in short, almost everyone in Nearburg was getting ready for the overly saccharine (some would say) holiday.

_Almost _everyone.

"This? It's, uh.." he shifted slightly, trying to make sure Dog couldn't read the paper. "It's a Valentine's Day letter." _Don't let him ask me who I'm writing it to, please..  
_"A Valleny-tine's Day letter?" Dog said excitedly, eyes shining. Then.. "...What's that?" The feline sighed; he had expected this. Normally he would have just waited until Dog was asleep to write such a letter, but.. well, he'd put it off for so long, and it had been somewhat of a long day; he wasn't entirely sure that he'd be able to stay awake all night to write the letter. Not to mention that he still needed to deliver it..

But no, he shouldn't be thinking about that right now; right now, he just needed to _write_ the damn thing. And explain the general concept of such a letter to his overly curious brother (who was now attempting to look over his shoulder), of course.

Cat turned the letter over, preventing it from being read, and said, "Oh, you know.. you give it to someone that you care about. Well, most people prefer to give their belove- er, 'special someone', a card, but I wanted to write a lot, so I thought.." he trailed off deliberately, hoping that had been enough to satisfy Dog's curiosity. For a second, the spotted canine looked confused, then smiled.  
"Oh, oh, I get it! Who are you writin' to, Cat?" Dog asked, trying to grab the letter from Cat's hands; Cat rolled his eyes, and held the overeager canine off with one arm.  
"Dog- Dog, stop it!" He pushed Dog away, holding the letter high above his head. Ignoring the fact that his cheeks were burning, he continued, "The whole point of a Valentine's Day letter is that _they are secret_, okay? You don't ask people who they're sending one to, or what it says, or- or whatever! They-" he swung the letter away; Dog was trying to grab it again. "have- to- remain - _secret!_" he finished, fully aware that his face was almost entirely red by now.  
"Ohhh! Sorry, Cat." Dog leaned back onto the arm of the sofa, thinking.

A few minutes of silence passed, in which the only sound that could be heard was the noise of the TV (turned down low; there wasn't much on at this time of day), and the scratching of Cat's pencil; he had opted for a pencil rather than a pen, since, well, you couldn't erase with a pen. After another minute or so, Dog eventually broke the silence.  
"Hey, Cat?"  
"...yes, Dog..?" he said irritably, clenching the pencil in his fist. He loved Dog, really he did, but sometimes..  
"What do you write in a Valleny-tine's Day letter, anyway?"  
Cat's ears perked up, surprised; he hadn't expected that. _Well, what __**did**__ you expect? You know he takes secrets seriously._ Cat briefly thought back to the time he had explained to Dog what a diary was, and shivered slightly. That hadn't ended well. "Well, uhh.." The spotted feline tried to think of how to explain it without going into too much detail. _Wouldn't want him to figure out who I'm writing this thing to, right?_ "You.. ask them to be your Valentine - that means that you're.. together.. for the day, at least. Haven't you been paying attention to the news all week, Dog? The whole of Nearburg's obsessed with the day, for God's sake!"  
"Is that what that dance-y thing's about?" For several weeks, there had been a part of the news dedicated to the upcoming Valentine's Day dance. Officials were saying that it could be a regular thing, if this one was popular enough.. sure, Dog had heard his brother mutter about how much he'd love to go to that thing with _someone_, but he hadn't really been able to figure out what was so special about this dance.. thing, or why people seemed to be so excited about it. It was just a dance, right?  
"_YES. _Look, Dog.."  
"Okie ka-dokie, Cat!" Dog seemed excited; about _what_, exactly, Cat couldn't quite figure out, but he didn't dwell on it for too long. Knowing Dog, he'd probably remembered that tomorrow was garbage day, or something in a similar vein. Whatever it was, it didn't affect him (hopefully), so why worry about it?

..Well, unless it really _was_ garbage day tomorrow. _Better check the calendar before I go to bed.._ Cat yawned, and returned to his letter, oblivious to the fact that Dog was now digging through his box of comic books that he kept next to the sofa, apparently trying to find something.

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The sun filtered through the curtains, filling CatDog's bedroom with a dim light. Morning had come; the birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and it looked to be another fine Spring day.

_Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep bee-_ _**click!**_

Cat slapped the 'off' button on the alarm clock, then sat up, stretching. "I hope she got it.." he muttered. Last night, while Dog had been distracted with.. whatever, he had asked Mervis to come over and deliver the famous love letter for him. After all, he couldn't exactly deliver it himself. For one, Dog would tease him mercilessly once he figured out who the letter was addressed to. And the other reason? ...Well, there was his personal safety to consider. He couldn't exactly just go waltzing across the Greaser Dogs' territory and expect to come out unscathed.

Hey, it wasn't _his_ fault he had fallen for Shriek. He wasn't even sure why, or how it had happened.. maybe it was the way she yelled at him, or her soft (looking, at least), light blonde hair.. who knew.

A sudden yawn put an end to his musing; he looked over at Dog, who was rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Mornin', Cat.." Cat smiled slightly at the sight.  
"Good morning, Dog." He leant back, his arm leaning on the pillow behind his head. Dog started to rub his other eye, then stopped suddenly.  
"I almost forgot! C'mon, Cat!" he yelled, before jumping out of bed, dragging Cat behind him.  
"Dog- Dog, slow down, you're gonna-" the feline cut off mid sentence as he was dragged down the piled-up cardboard boxes that formed a makeshift staircase, his head hitting every step (er.. box) as Dog ran. "..hurt.. someone.. _sigh_." Dog ran over to the sofa, and dug around in the cushions for a bit before pulling out a somewhat crumpled piece of paper.  
"Here it is!" He held it out to Cat, his tongue lolling excitedly. "Read it, read iiiit~!"  
"Okay, okay.." Cat snatched the piece of paper, and looked at it.

_To Cat,  
__  
Will you be my Valleny-tine?_

_From, Dog_

It was admittedly quite hard to make out the short letter, due to the scrawling handwriting that it had been written in, with several letters reversed, even. But Cat was so used to Dog's handwriting at this point that it didn't even faze him.  
What _did_ faze him was the fact that he had finally, _finally_ received _something_ for Valentine's Day, and it was from his brother.

"Well? What'cha think?" Dog watched him excitedly, obviously not realizing what Cat was thinking. "Is it okay?"  
"Dog, I don't think you understand. The idea of Valentine's Day is that you send something to someone you-"  
"Someone you care about a lot!" Dog finished. "Andandand, I thought that since I care about _you_ a lot, I should send you something!"  
Cat stared at Dog, trying to think of a way to explain to him that that wasn't what exactly what he had meant. _Should have been more specific.._ "No, it means.." He was cut off again, but this time it was by the look on Dog's face. It was plain as day that he really, _really_ wanted Cat to be happy about the letter, and try as he might, Cat just couldn't bring himself to burst his bubble. He'd just have to think up some way to avoid any embarrassment, that was all.  
"..um.. never mind. Look, there's something I forgot to tell you about Valentines.."  
"What's that, Cat?"  
"You don't tell anyone who yours is, okay? Even if they ask, you can't tell them, because it's a secret. You understand that, right?"

"Gotcha!"

Cat sighed; Dog still wasn't getting it. Still, as long as he didn't tell anyone about the letter, it should be okay. _Might as well humour him._ "Right.. come on, we've got to get ready for this dance this afternoon.." He sighed, a long-suffering kind of sigh, and turned towards the staircase again. True, the dance wasn't for several hours yet, but if he was going to go, he might as well start getting ready now.

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"_But I think that you're wild  
__When you flash that fragile smile_

_You might think it's foolish  
What you put me through (you might think)  
__You might think I'm crazy (all I want)  
__But all I want is you.._"

Music seemed to be coming from the very walls themselves; couples were dancing close together, staring adoringly into each other's eyes, or else confessing their love for one another. The entire community hall was decorated in bright, red and pink colours, with heart-shaped decorations _everywhere_.. it was a little overwhelming, to be honest. In the corner were several buffet tables, filled with such delicacies as heart-shaped cookies and a bowl of punch.

"Wowie caboodles, Cat! It's so pretty~" Dog exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.  
"Yeah, yeah, it's terrific. Now.." Cat scanned the room nervously, looking for a certain short-tempered poodle girl. In his letter, he had asked to meet her by the buffet tables. "Doesn't look like she's here yet.." he muttered.  
"What did you say, Cat?" Dog wasn't paying attention; he was too awed by the beauty of the room. Cat rolled his eyes, and tugged at the collar of the tuxedo he was wearing.  
"Never mind. Look, you wanna go grab something to eat? I said I'd meet someone by the buffet tables." Before he could say anything else, Dog was bounding off to the corner of the room, amazingly not tripping over the long, trailing sleeves of the over-large tuxedo he was also wearing; Cat had insisted upon them both looking 'presentable', as he'd put it.

They waited by the buffet table for what seemed like hours, but in reality, was really only about 10 minutes, if that. Halfway through this agonizing wait, Dog had excused himself, and was now wandering around the hall, seemingly talking to people. Cat was nervous, and it showed; he was constantly tugging at his sleeve or collar, as if they were lopsided.

"What're YOU doin' here, Catbutt?"

The high-pitched, but still clearly feminine, voice pulled Cat from his thoughts. He looked up, and there she was; still wearing the same shirt-and-jeans combo that she always wore, but with the thoughtful addition of a flower (that looked very much like it had been pulled from someone's garden) tucked behind one ear. Shriek stared at him irritably (well, it looked like it; it was kind of hard to tell with Shriek). "Where's Dog?"  
"Erm, he's.. he's over there," Cat stammered, trying to think of what to say. Obviously he knew that she wasn't going to fall head-over-heels for him (not right away, at least), but even so, he had been so focused on _inviting_ Shriek to the dance that he had completely forgotten that he would actually have to _talk_ to her.  
"Hmf! Outta my way!" she yelled, pushing him aside and rushing over to Dog.

Cat rubbed the back of his head with one hand; hopefully she'd be back soon so he could at least _try_ to explain that he was her Valentine.. not Dog. _Why can't she just see that I.._

"Darling, you're such a good dancer!"  
"And I love it!"

Cat's ears perked up, and he looked over in spite of himself; sure enough, Tallulah and Randolph were dancing together nearby. "Ter_rific_," he muttered sarcastically. "Why can't I just find _one_ person who-"  
"Quit talkin' to yourself, freak!" He looked over so fast that if someone had been next to him, he probably would have knocked them over; Shriek was there, looking both annoyed and also somewhat disappointed.  
"H-hello, Shriek~" he said nervously, trying to remain calm and act smooth, like an actor in a movie. "Grea- _cough_ great decorations, huh?" She ignored this, and after a few minutes passed awkwardly, he continued, "So, um, I guess you got my letter, the-"  
"_**YOU**__ SENT THAT LETTER?_" It was amazing how loud she could yell, considering how short she was; she grabbed his shirt, glaring at him.  
"I-"  
Shriek clenched her fists and glared daggers at Cat, apparently thinking of how best to express her anger; then, surprisingly, she let him go, yelled, "If you tell anyone about this, I'll _kill you_, you got that?", and stormed off angrily.

"Well, that's.. better than I expected, anyway.." Cat sighed again, watching her for a minute, and then he shook his head. "Oh, whatever. Dog?" The feline looked around, until he eventually spotted his brother nearby, alone. He moved quickly, until he was beside the canine. "Dog? Come on, let's get going."  
"Why? We just got here, Cat!" he replied, laughing slightly.  
"Yeah, well- does it really matter? Just come on!" Without waiting for a reply, he turned around and began walking to the entrance, dragging Dog behind him, uncomfortably aware that several people were laughing at him. _Ignore them, ignore them.._

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Night had well and truly fallen, and CatDog were in bed, almost asleep. They were both reading, although what _exactly_ they were reading couldn't be more different; Dog was reading a comic book, whereas Cat was reading some semi-obscure piece of "fine literature", as he called it. "Come on, Dog," he said eventually, yawning and shutting the thick book. "It's late, and we've had a long day.. heh, 'day'.. more like a waste of time if you ask me..." he muttered, rambling to himself.  
"Okay- wait, I just remembered something!" Throwing the comic book onto the floor, Dog leaned forward. "Close your eeeyes~"  
"..why?" Cat asked suspiciously; he had been pranked too many times not to wonder why someone would want him to do something right out of the blue like that.  
"I've got a surpriiise for youu~"

Sighing, Cat closed his eyes, figuring that he might as well just get it over with, whatever it was. "Okay, they're shut, now what is i-"  
He was cut off, but not through choice; rather that he couldn't help but _be_ cut off, seeing as he was being kissed.  
By Dog.

His eyes flew open as he looked at his brother, his eyes wide with surprise; what in the name of white fish chubs was he _doing_?  
After just a few seconds, the spotted canine pulled away, smiling. "I asked some people at the party, and they said that was what you did to your Valleny-tine!"  
"Bu- wha-" Cat was speechless; of all things, he had _not_ expected that.  
"Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone~ Well, goodnight, Cat!" He fell back onto his pillow with a soft _thump_ and was asleep in seconds, already beginning to mutter in his sleep.  
"Well.. that's.." Cat stared at where Dog had been just seconds ago, still stunned, his face starting to flush. Slowly, he lay back onto his pillow, staring at the ceiling as he began to think.

_Why he does things like that, I'll never be able to understand.._


End file.
